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Lamborghini Murcielago
The Lamborghini Murciélago is a sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 20017 and 2010. Successor to the Diablo and flagship of the automaker's lineup, the Murciélago was introduced as a coupé in 2001. The Murcielago was first available in North America for the 2002 model year. The automaker's first new design in eleven years, the car was also the brand's first new model under the ownership of German parent company Audi, which is owned by Volkswagen. It is styled by Peruvian-born Belgian Luc Donckerwolke, Lamborghini's head of design from 1998 to 2005. A roadster version was introduced in 2004, followed by the updated LP 640 coupé and roadster and limited edition LP 650–4 Roadster. The final variation to wear the Murciélago nameplate was the LP 670–4 SuperVeloce, powered by the largest and final evolution of the Lamborghini V12 engine. Production of the Murciélago ended on 5 November 2010, with a total run of 4,099 cars.1 Its successor, the Aventador, was released at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show. In a continuation of Lamborghini's tradition of naming its cars after stars from the world of bullfighting, the Murciélago is named for a fighting bull that survived 24 sword strokes in an 1879 fight against Rafael "El Lagartijo" Molina Sánchez, at the Coso de los califas bullring in Córdoba, Spain. Murciélago fought with such passion and spirit that the matador chose to spare its life, a rare honor. The bull, which came from Joaquin del Val di Navarra's farm, was later presented as a gift to Don Antonio Miura, a noted local breeder; thus began the famed Miura line of fighting bulls, and the name for one of Lamborghini's greatest designs. Murciélago is the Spanish name for the bat. In the Castilian Spanish spoken in most of Spain the word is pronounced muɾˈθjelaɣo, with a voiceless dental fricative θ (as in English 'th'ing). However, the Italian automaker often uses the Southern Spanish and Latin American Spanish pronunciation, muɾˈsjelaɣo, with an s sound. Many people in Italy pronounce it murˈtʃeːlaɡo, as if it were an Italian word. The Murciélago is an all-wheel drive, mid-engined sports car. With an angular design and an exceptionally low slung body, the highest point of the roof is just under 4 feet (1.2 m) above the ground. One of the vehicle's most distinguishing features are its scissor doors which lend to the extreme image. The First-generation of the Murciélago was produced between 2001 and 2006 and was powered by a Lamborghini V12 that traces its roots back to the company's beginnings in the 1960s. The rear differential is integrated with the engine itself, with a viscous coupling centre differential providing drive to the front wheels. Power is delivered through a 6-speed manual transmission. The suspension utilised in the car uses an independent double-wishbone design, and bodywork features carbon fibre, steel and aluminium parts. The active rear wing and the active air intakes integrated into the car's shoulders are electromechanically controlled, deploying automatically only at high speeds in an effort to maximize both aerodynamic and cooling efficiency. The first generation cars were known simply as Murciélago, sometimes Murciélago VT. The 6.2 L V12 engine utilised in the first generation cars produced 580 PS (572 hp), and accelerated the car from a stand still to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.8 seconds.10 Subsequent versions incorporated an alphanumeric designation to the name Murciélago, which indicated their engine configuration and output. However, the original cars are never referred to as "LP 580s". The Murciélago Roadster was introduced in 2004. Primarily designed to be an open top car, it employed a manually attached soft roof as cover from adverse weather, but a warning on the windshield header advises the driver not to exceed 100 mph (160 km/h) with the top in place. The designer, Luc Donckerwolke used the B-2 stealth bomber, the Wally 118 WallyPower yacht, and architect Santiago Calatrava's Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències in Valencia, Spain as his inspiration for the roadster's revised rear pillars and engine cover.